A digitizer is used to generate a digital representation of an image by converting analog signals into digital signals. A digital pen can be used to image handwriting, such as when a user marks on a digitizer pad with a digital pen and the marks are digitized. The digital data that represents the handwriting can be stored in the digital pen and then downloaded to a computer that processes the digital data to generate a display of the handwriting as an image or graphic on a display device. A digitizer pad is typically configured as an M×N sensor array with a large number of signal connections to the digitizer pad so that an (x,y) position of a handwriting mark on the digitizer pad can be determined, and then resolved for display.
A digital signal processor receives data signal inputs from the signal connections to the M×N sensor array and utilizes a large amount of processing resources, such as power and CPU resources, to resolve M×N sensor inputs into an (x,y) position of a handwriting mark. As the size and area of a digitizer pad is increased, the signal connections needed for the sensor array, and the processing resources needed to resolve position data, exponentially increases. The large number of signal connections needed for a sensor array, the additional power needs, and/or processor limitations are all factors that limit conventional digitizer techniques, particularly for resolution and accuracy on larger displays.